Voters head to polls to choose candidates for Congress, Lege

By John W. Gonzalez :
July 30, 2012
: Updated: July 31, 2012 7:05am

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst addresses the media during a campaign stop at the VFW Post 76, Monday, July 30, 2012. Dewhurst was courting the veteran's vote on the last day before the U.S. Senate runoff election with Tea Party candidate Ted Cruz. Backing Dewhurst were San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt, left, and Gov. Rick Perry.

GOP U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz rallies supporters during his final campaign stop in San Antonio before Tuesday’s runoff election with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Cruz spoke to more than 100 Republicans and tea party members Wednesday night July 25 at Sideliners Grill, made a passionate plea for votes and money.

Photo By AP

In this June 22, 2012 file photo, Texas Senate Candidates Ted Cruz, left, and Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst , right, are seen after their televised debate in Dallas, Texas. Cruz, the tea party candidate for U.S. Senate has come a long way since he kicked off his campaign more than a year ago with seemingly no chance of competing against the mainstream GOP front-runner in the race, Dewhurst.

With an open U.S. Senate seat at stake, Republicans and Democrats return to the polls today for an unusual midsummer runoff election to settle November's field of candidates for Congress, the Legislature, judgeships and county offices.

In the San Antonio area, Democratic contests for U.S. House District 23 and Texas Senate District 25 are among the most volatile, and runoffs for sheriff and constable offices drew large numbers of early voters last week.

Capturing statewide and national interest is the bitter fight for the GOP Senate nomination between Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former solicitor general Ted Cruz.

Cruz spent election eve doing media interviews in Houston, while Dewhurst made multiple stops — in Austin at a Chick-Fil-A restaurant, in San Antonio at VFW Post 76 with Gov. Rick Perry and Spurs owner Peter Holt, and in Dallas with Mayor Tom Leppert.

“This may be, along with Nov. 6, the two most important elections that you'll ever have in your life,” Dewhurst said at the VFW hall.

In their heavily-advertised matchup, Dewhurst has portrayed Cruz as an untested Washington insider, while Cruz bashed Dewhurst for moderate policies.

Similar themes played out in the area's Texas Senate race, where Republican Jeff Wentworth — the incumbent since 1993 — faced a vigorous tea party-backed challenge from Dr. Donna Campbell of New Braunfels.

In the campaign's waning days, Wentworth's campaign hammered Campbell's short tenure in the six-county district, which includes parts of Bexar and Travis and all of Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall and Hays counties. Campbell's counterattack said it's time for change in Austin and accused Wentworth of running misleading ads that said Campbell advocated broader sales taxes.

Statewide, Democrats also will choose a U.S. Senate nominee. The contenders are former state Rep. Paul Sadler of Henderson and retired educator Grady Yarbrough of San Antonio. The victor meets Dewhurst or Cruz in November.

In Bexar County, residents will be voting in about 660 locations. One county contest drawing attention is the Democratic runoff between Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz and challenger Andy Lopez. Three incumbent Democratic constables — Ruben Tejeda, Val Flores and Robert “Mike” Blount — are in runoffs.

Also on Bexar ballots are runoffs for one justice of the peace office and tax assessor-collector.

Runoff elections usually are held in the spring, but this year's timetable was delayed by redistricting litigation that pushed back the primary to May 29. Bexar County has about 880,000 registered voters, and about 5 percent voted early — 13,958 Democrats and 32,764 Republicans.

Please update the runoff story with this: Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.